Saturday, June 9, 2012

Definition of insanity

For years now, I've been making rhubarb pie for family picnics, and I really thought I had it nailed. I made the same recipe over and over: James Beard's rhubarb pie (no strawberries) and Fannie Farmer's pastry recipe. I thought I knew what I was doing.

But I did not! Oh I did not. The pie I made yesterday is to my previous rhubarb pies as an flat balloon is to an inflated one. In some cases, this comparison is literal; yesterday's pastry actually increased in size and puffed up beautifully, and it had enough filling for once. On the flip side, my former end product was half-filled at best, the pastry was flat and tough, and the recipe called for flour to absorb the moisture, so it was usually pretty dry.

I should have stopped making this pie after the first time I made it. At most, I should have attempted it twice, realized that the results were identically uninspiring, and just quit. But I persisted. Why did I insist that I was doing it right?

Technically, I was correct; after all, I followed the recipe to the letter. But the pie was wrong. Why didn't I see it before?

An even more interesting question: Why did I continue using shortening even though Aria (former boss, professional pastry chef) said you get better results with butter? Why??

Who knows, I'm just stubborn. Anyway. All-butter pastry makes all the difference and I'm never going back.


Would you?

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